Miscellaneous Heirs
by spiritore
Summary: Trowa is sent on a suicide quest, accompanied by Duo, but instead of completing the quest he joins forces with a dragon in search of a mate and a certain blond prince that is his companion. No biggie, right? Wrong. (3x4 main, yaoi, het)
1. Part One

Pairings: 3x4/4x3 (not yet)

Disclaimer: Yeah, I guess you could say I don't own them. The GW characters belong to their rightful owners and that's not me.

*****

Miscellaneous Heirs - Part One

by Orerinia Shaydrin

*****

The mountain stood proud in the sunny afternoon, its top reaching up into the sky as if trying to touch the sun with its peak. It was covered two-thirds of the way with greenery, beautiful evergreen trees that filled the air with their fragrance. The other third of the mountain was rock with some grass, open to the elements, but on such a day as today was it held a certain rough beauty. It was on this one third that two figures could be seen. One was a human boy dressed in tight black leather pants and a green tunic. His brown hair flopped into his face from time to time as he observed the area with cool green eyes, clutching the sword at his side with one hand and trying to ignore his companion's chattering.

"Just a question. Why the hell are we climbing up this damn mountain?"

Trowa would have turned to address his irate companion, but since he was in the process of cautiously edging his way along a narrow ledge that was about five-hundred feet above the ground, he decided not to, for fear of falling down all the way to the bottom and becoming nothing more than a smear of flesh, bones, and blood on the ground below. Still he decided that his companion's remark deserved an answer, even if he already knew it. "Because we have to slay the dragon."

"Again. Why the hell are we climbing up this damn mountain?"

Trowa now ignored him, nearly to the end of the dangerous cliff. The ledge widened allowing for someone to walk a comfortably without fear of falling. Reaching that area he released the breath he had been holding.

"Fine, don't answer me then." His companion snorted indignantly, stepping off the edge and straightening the black feathers that hung from his long braid of chestnut hair. "One thing though, you do realize that this so called 'quest' is only to get rid of you, so you don't get in the way of your brother's way to the throne, right? It's a suicide mission."

"Yes."

"Then why the hell are you doing it?" The braided boy crossed his arms over his chest and glared daggers at Trowa.

"Because I'm not needed, Duo." He shrugged and continued to walk--and climb--the path that wove its way up the mountain.

"So you're doing this just because you're not needed in the royal family. Why don't you just run away? I'm sure no one would care." Duo stalked after his friend, enraged. "Forget about the dragon and take this as your chance to leave! It's not like your family it going to come up here and check for your remains. They'll just assume the dragon ate you."

"I have to do this. The dragon could injure or kill someone. Something needs to be done about it." The trail had ended and now he was slowly climbing his way around protrusions of rock, still diligently making his way up the mountain.

"That's another thing. Sure the damn thing's been spotted a couple of times, but only recently, and has it ever attacked anything or anyone. No!" He scrambled after Trowa, muttering curses about pig-headed princes before he resumed speaking to him. "And I still think it was an idiotic idea to leave your armor down at the bottom of the mountain."

"I would have never made it up the mountain if I hadn't." Trowa stopped for a moment and drank from the water pouch he had kept at his side. Glancing up the mountain he quickly calculated the distance there was left to get where he assumed the dragon's cave was. They were close. "Duo, you should transform and go back down. We're getting close to its cave."

The braided boy stared at him, disbelieving what he had heard. "You want me," he pointed at himself, "to leave you up here alone to fight a dragon? Like hell I will! I didn't follow you here to let you commit suicide!"

"I'm not going to let you get killed. This isn't your quest!" Trowa's hand clenched into a fist so tight that his knuckles turned white. The braided boy had been his best friend since he was a child, even if he wasn't completely human. "You stupid raven. Leave!"

Duo ground his feet into the ground and tossed back his head to get a better view of Trowa. "Make me! I ain't leaving you and I ain't transforming so live with it."

"LEAVE!"

"NO WAY IN HELL!!"

Before the situation could escalate any further a soft dry chuckle interrupted them. "You two should be more careful here. There's a dragon nearby."

Both looked up started and standing a little above them, head tilted was a boy dressed in white. He had black hair pulled back into a tight ponytail that made Duo wince and copper colored skin. Slanted black eyes inspected them intently and the boy shook his head. Whoever he was, he wasn't from around the area. He looked as foreign as it was possible to get.

Trowa warily watched the black-eyed boy, while Duo did the only thing he could do. He asked a question. "Who the fuck are you?"

The boy above them raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't really matter, I just thought to let you know that if you go any further the dragon will kill you."

"Not if we can help it! We're here to kill the dragon!" The braided boy shoved his way past Trowa, leaving him to follow. "It would be best if you got away from here. It's dangerous."

The black-eyed boy smirked and stepped to the side, allowing Duo to pass. "I thought so, but you are too weak to face its wrath. You'll be killed."

"Yeah right. That dragon has no idea about what its about to face." The braided boy brushed past, ignoring the black-eyed boy. His last words were directed to Trowa, mocking him. "Besides it might come down and kill somebody."

The boy in white smirked, "I don't think so."

Trowa walked by the boy, still silent and never taking his eyes off the newcomer. He came to a halt and appraised him. "Why are you up here?"

"I wanted to see. . ." The boy's smirk grew bigger and he started to walk away. He gave a light, haunting laugh that danced across the fresh air. "Don't say I didn't warn you. If you continue on it will be justice that the dragon imparts on you." Then the air shimmered and he was gone, as if he had never been there.

Trowa blinked, combing his brown hair out of his eyes as he searched for a place that the boy could have disappeared too. There was no way anyone could vanish like that, but that boy had. It had to be a trick.

"Hurry your ass up, Trowa! I thought you were the one eager to get yourself killed." Duo was already a good distance ahead of Trowa and gaining ground.

"Duo!" The green-eyed prince launched himself after his friend. "I told you to go back!"

"Like hell I will!"

"Keep it down, will you?" Trowa hissed as a sudden thought came upon him. He was ready to hit himself over his head for being such an imbecile. "The dragon's lair is near."

Duo came to a stand still, not moving an inch and permitting Trowa to catch up with him. He pointed a finger in front of him, his voice lowered in a whisper--not that it did much good considering what he was pointing at. "Too late."

There was the cave, huge and intimidating, gaping wide open, daring them to step inside. Rocks jutted out from the edge, sharp and pointy, looking very much like teeth. It looked dark and damp inside, cold and unforgiving. Could the dragon really be in there, waiting for them to walk in and eat them there on the spot.

Trowa swallowed the lump in his throat. Why was he so nervous all of a sudden? He had known when he left his family's castle that he was on a quest that would be the death of him. All because his father and older brother were worried about a rebellion rising up with him as their figurehead. As if that would ever happen. He was trained too well as a second prince, always doing what was expecting of him.

His companion let out a sigh, "Good news. The dragon's not here."

"Are you sure?" Trowa eyed Duo as he stepped towards the cave. He trusted his friend's words, since Duo retained his excellent hearing and sight when he changed into a human from a raven.

"As sure as I am that my braid is still attached to my head." Duo's eyes flickered over the cave's entrance again. "But if I'm not mistaken, there's something--or someone--in the cave. Sounds like a human."

"You think the dragon might have captured a princess?" Trowa asked quietly, falling back onto the myths he had heard about the beasts as a child.

Duo shrugged, "I know as much about them as you do."

"Which is not much apparently." The voice came from behind them, familiar as they had heard it only a few minutes earlier. They both turned to see the white clad boy, arms crossed and eyebrows raised. "Do you still insist upon fighting the dragon?"

"It's what I came here to do." Trowa said before Duo could cut in with one of his loud remarks.

"Then fight me you shall!" The boy threw his arms up in the air, wind picking up and whirling around him, hiding his figure from their sight. There was no flashing lights nor thundering noise to go with this scene, but when the wind died down a boy no longer stood before them. A dragon had taken his place.

The dragon was magnificent. He was as white as the first snow fall and as big as a good sized house. A long and elegant tail stretched out behind him, black barbs dotting along it, gleaming in the sunlight. His two front legs were more delicately made than his hind ones and all four feet were equipped with deadly looking black claws. The dragon swung his elongated head back and forth, flashing the black diamond on its forehead.

"SHIT!!! He's the dragon!" Duo grabbed onto Trowa's shoulder and hauled him back several steps.

"Obviously." The dragon drew his head back, smoke curling upward into the sky from his nostrils. "You have chosen your fate. Prepare to meet your justice."

Time slowed down, everything creeping forward, every movement noted and placed. Trowa wished that he had taken Duo's advice earlier and had run away from the whole mess that his family had gotten him into. Now because he hadn't his best friend was going to die and it was his fault. Light gleamed off of the dragon's pearl-white teeth as he opened his mouth, black smoke wafting from its depths and a red glow growing in the back of its throat. Trowa pushed Duo as far out of the way as he could, knowing that perhaps his friend would be able to get out of the way and survive. He wouldn't, the dragon's fire was already rolling out of his throat, ready to shoot forth towards Trowa. At the last second a shocked cry that came from neither his nor Duo's mouth made the dragon turn its head, fire streaming away from them, crackling and sparking in its bright orange and red fury.

"WUFEI! NO!"

A golden and blue streak ran past Trowa and Duo straight towards the dragon, which was now caught in the middle of a coughing fit, fumes pouring out of his mouth and nose. Duo had moved up to Trowa's side and they watched as the golden and blue streak--in actuality a boy--rapped the dragon on the head with his fist, chastising it. "What do you think you were doing, Wufei? You were going to kill them!"

The dragon, hacking and coughing, answered back, "I know! That's what I was trying to do in the first place until you stepped in the way."

The boy dressed in baggy blue silk pants edged with gold, a white shirt, and a vest similar to that of his pants looked taken a back for a moment. He put his hands on his hips, shaking his head and sending the pale-golden strands of his bangs dancing on his forehead. "Why in the world were you trying to do that, Wufei? You could have stayed in human form and let them think that the dragon was elsewhere."

The dragon swung his head to glare at Trowa and Wufei. "They already knew I was here, Quatre. And they were going to try and kill me."

The boy glanced back with vibrant blue-green eyes, scanning over them quickly before turning his attention back to the dragon. "That still gives you no reason to-"

"Excuse me!" Duo having finished his muttering about never knowing that dragons could transform like he could, decided that it was a fine time to interrupt. "But we're still here."

"Unfortunately."

"Wufei!"

"Hey, I was going to say something!" Duo tugged on a black feather hanging on his braid. He curiously eyed the boy with blond hair, before mischievously grinning. "I thought dragons only captured princesses . . . or are you one in disguise?"

Trowa let his head fall into his hands, moaning softly. Trust a braided boy that could turn into a raven to ask a question like that in a situation like they were in. He had the feeling that the fate he had just avoided was not going to stay gone for long, especially seeing that glimmer of outrage shining in the boy dressed in blue eyes.

The boy kept his hand on his hips, cocking his head slightly to the side. "Care to say that again?"

Duo never faltered. "Are you a princess in disguise?"

Trowa's soft moaning turned into a full out groan, as he contemplated the sanity of his friend. He had never thought him to be an idiot and hadn't he been the one complaining about how suicidal the quest was? What had happened to change his mind like that. It didn't matter. He and Duo were so going to be dead.

He could see it in the boy's eyes as he glared at them.

He could see it in the dragon's black eyes as he started to draw in his breath.

Then, startling both Trowa and the dragon, the boy in blue started to laugh with Duo giving into hysterics at the same time.

The dragon and Trowa looked at each other, puzzlement in their eyes. Their companions had gone insane.

*****


	2. Part Two

Pairings: 3x4/4x3 (not yet)

Disclaimer: Yeah, I guess you could say I don't own them. The GW characters belong to their rightful owners and that's not me.

*****

Miscellaneous Heirs - Part Two

by Orerinia Shaydrin

*****

Trowa watched as the white dragon--who's name was presumably Wufei--stared at the two hysterically laughing boys. Something that Trowa had been doing until a few seconds ago until he had decided that it would be best to pay attention to the dragon, since he had been about to kill him more than a few moments earlier. It was definitely a good idea to watch the dragon.

Wufei started to swing his head back and forth, a deep rumbling growl sounding from his throat. Trowa tensed, his hand creeping to his side within easy reach of his sword. The dragon's black eyes glittered and faint whisks of smoke were wafting from his nostrils. "Magic?" The word was said in a soft whisper and the laughing boys could not hear it, but Trowa could. The dragon drew back his head, his next words much clearer. "Is he controlling him with magic?"

The dragon's head lurched closer to Duo--who didn't notice even with his excellent hearing or sight since he was in the condition of being bent over double in giggles. Trowa's hand was on his sword and pulling it out as he lurched forward to keep Wufei from hurting his friend. He couldn't allow that to happen! "Duo, get out of the way!"

His sword shining gold in the sun, he swung it towards Wufei's neck intent on cutting his head clean off. The dragon caught sight of him and swung his neck out of the way, barely avoiding the sword's blade. The laughing boys stopped laughing.

The dragon retaliated, once again using his long neck and deftly avoiding Trowa's sword to open his mouth wide attempting to bite Trowa's arm off, if not his head. It didn't work for Trowa was on the ground rolling in a flash. He stood up, dirt dusting his green tunic and both hands clenched tightly to his sword. He narrowed his eyes, the dragon was going down!

Wufei lunged forward at the same instant as Trowa. Dagger-sharp teeth glistened and a sharp-edged sword rushing forward to meet each other. That was until a black raven imposed itself between them, claws grasping Trowa's sword, yanking it out of his grip and the blond boy--Quatre--jumped in front of the dragon, throwing himself to the mercy of the giant beast.

Thinking that it would be the end of Quatre, Trowa's breath caught in his throat. Then the wind picked up and there was no longer a dragon approaching, but a boy in white who tumbled down on top of Quatre. They landed with a soft 'whump' and lay there for several seconds. The screeching and ranting of the raven directed everyone's attention to it.

The raven wasn't too far away, it couldn't carry the sword a long distance. It stood on the ground, hopping up and down in agitation, pointedly looking at Trowa. The green-eyed prince glared and slowly walked towards, trying to see if he could get his sword from it. One particularly loud call made him cover his ears and glare at the black bird. "I did not start the fight, Duo! That dragon was going to try and eat you!" The dragon . . . it would be in his best interests to keep on eye on the boy in white.

He did so, seeing that both Quatre and the dragon-boy were now standing and staring at him and the raven with wide eyes. The black-eyed boy glared, eyes unforgiving and Trowa had the distinct feeling that the only thing keeping him from turning into a dragon was Quatre's hand resting on his arm, holding him back. He snorted, throwing his head back, seemingly insulted. "I was not going to eat him! He smelled like he was using magic and I thought he was practicing it on Quatre, but it seems he is magic." The raven let out a loud defensive sounding squawk.

Wufei shook of Quatre's hand and raised his fist at Duo. "I wasn't talking to you bird-brain. I was talking to your moron of a friend here." The raven cackled something and he stiffened. "I did not start that fight! He did! I had a right to fight back!"

The blond boy turned towards Trowa, blue-green eyes darkening. "You tried to kill Wufei when he wasn't doing anything to you? How could you?"

Trowa glared back, "I thought he was going to try and eat, Duo. He did try to kill us earlier."

"I think you were just trying to catch him off guard so you could murder him in cold blood. Then you could take his head and parade it around like some hero." Wufei and Duo were arguing in the background--something about minding the other's business--but Trowa didn't listen. He had a very irritated blond to take care of.

One that was wearing away his already thin patience.

"I wasn't going to do that!"

"Oh, really? I know your type. Some warrior who wants fame and fortune and thinks the easy way to get it is to slay a dragon." Quatre had his hands on his hips once more and a faint red flush was creeping up his face.

"That's not what I am!" Duo and Wufei had stopped fighting and were now paying attention to them, which was reasonable since he and Quatre had raised their voices until they were almost yelling at each other.

"Oh, then you must be one of those princes that will do his daddy proud if he brings home the head of a big, vicious dragon that he killed." The blond boy's eyes scanned Trowa up and down. "Yeah, that's what you are. I'd know your type anywhere."

"Aren't you assuming a bit much?"

They were stepping towards each other, both threatening in their walks, watching the other carefully as they approached. "Weren't you assuming a bit much when you came up here to kill Wufei?"

"Humph! My father ordered me to do it . . . And your dragon could have killed people!"

"Wufei is not my dragon!" Quatre tilted his head up for now he and Trowa were so close that the green-eyed prince's greater height was giving him and advantage on looking down at the blond boy. Not that it seemed to deter Quatre at all. "Huh, so you are one of those princes who will do anything for his father." 

He started to turn away, his point made when Trowa grabbed his arm. "You know nothing about me!"

"Let me GO!" Quatre tried to tug his arm out of Trowa's grasp, but he tightened his hold, glowering at the blond boy.

"No." For the first time since they had raised their voices, Trowa lowered his into a deadly whisper. Quatre stopped struggling, blue-green eyes gazing up into his, searching for. . . something. Trowa became aware of how close the boy was, he could feel his warm breath on his neck and his heartbeat vibrating throughout the boy. By the gods was the boy beautiful with his pale skin, gold hair, and slender body.

For a few seconds time stood still . . . until Quatre sent his fist right into Trowa's jaw. The green-eyed prince's head turned to the side and he stumbled back a few steps, pulling the blond boy with him. "I TOLD YOU TO LET ME GO!!!"

Trowa couldn't say anything for the blond boy threw himself up against him, knocking him onto the ground with Quatre falling down as well. The green-eyed prince promptly found himself being straddled around the waist by the blond boy. Freezing, Trowa took a moment to enjoy the view. Quatre looked completely too exquisite in the position he was in, with cheeks flushed pink and pale-golden hair scattered across his forehead. Trowa enjoyed the image until he came to realize that the vision of beauty before him was trying its hardest to mangle his face with its fists.

Taking action quickly as soon as he realized this, he reached up and tried to restrain those flying arms. Unfortunately it didn't work and they were soon rolling on the ground, one good hit from Quatre across his jaw making Trowa forget where his thoughts had been before and finally making him lose his temper completely with the blond boy. Trying his best to gain some ground in their fight, he brought an elbow down into Quatre's side. The blue-green eyed boy let out a huge whuff of air, grimaced, and came back at him with a vengeance.

Fists flew, feet kicked, and curses were uttered. For being so much smaller than Trowa, Quatre knew how to put up a good fight. Their little battle would have gone on much longer had it not been for the interference of a certain boy with black feathers hanging from his brown braid. Duo jumped it, grabbing Quatre by the back of his shirt and hauling him away from Trowa forcefully. "Shit, you two! Stop it!"

Trowa regained his feet, still delirious with rage, and prepared to go at it with Quatre again. The blond boy appeared to be in the same set of mind, but what stopped them was the fuming Duo, who stood between them with a hand on each other's chest. "I'm serious! I can't have my two friends kill each other!"

Trowa stumbled back a few steps. "He's your friend?"

"He's your friend?" The same question was echoed by Wufei, talking to Quatre while holding him back at the same time, and pointing at Duo with a disgusted look on his face.

Duo was the one who answered. "Yes, he is." Trowa wasn't too certain to who his words had been directed at; it could have been Wufei, himself, or both of them. It was most likely the third option from the way he was glancing from him to the dragon boy.

Trowa spent a moment under Duo's critical eye before he gave a slight nod--obviously determining that he had his temper back under control--and swaggered over to Quatre's side, throwing his arm across the blond boy's shoulders and taking him away from Wufei's grasp. The dragon boy blinked, looking surprised and then sent Duo another glare.

"Quatre and I here met when I took one of my little trips." Trowa blinked and stifled a moan. Duo telling about one of his 'little trips' could take forever since the braided boy believed that he had to put in every little detail he could in the story while he was telling it, and today one of Duo's stories was the last thing that he wanted to hear. But he kept his mouth shut, knowing that this was the only way he was going to get any information on how his best friend knew Quatre.

"It was near this desert--well it wasn't really a desert, but it was close enough to one--and there stood this castle--one of those old, ancient things, like that ruined one who showed me, Trowa--and on top of the roof of this castle was a little girl dressed in a frilly pink dress, crying her eyes out." Trowa's eyes flickered to Quatre and found the blond boy narrowing his eyes at Duo, his ire redirected from himself to another target. Wufei's expression had changed to one of annoyance and faint amusement. "I was in raven-form then so I thought why not and go see if I can see what she's crying about, but when I got closer I realized that it was a boy. So I flew down to him and transformed back into my human shape to see if he was all right-"

Duo was cut off by Quatre, who had shaken off Duo's arm and was now standing several feet away from him, with his arms crossed and his eyebrows raised indignantly. "That's not how it went, Duo." He turned and Trowa watched as the blond boy tried to explain to his dragon friend what had really happened. He paid no attention to the green-eyed prince, but he heard the story all the same, and gave silent thanks that Quatre told it straightforward with no long winded descriptions.

"It was seven years ago when I was nine. My sisters decided to play dress-up with me and I had just escaped when Duo found me--or when I found him." The braided boy opened his mouth to say something, but Quatre cast him a glance that made him shut it. "A big wind had come up and Duo--being in a raven at the time--wasn't prepared for it and was rammed into one of the towers. He fell down nearly on top of me and transformed into a human."

The blond boy grimaced, "The first thing he asked me was if I was a princess. He had hit the tower wall so hard that he had a concussion and a broken arm. It took two weeks for me to convince him that he could trust the healing-mages and let them fix his arm. Then he stayed for another two weeks before he flew off. That was the last time I saw him. Until now that is." He glared at Duo. "I'm surprised he knew who I was."

"Hey, how could I forget one of the kindest people I had ever met?" The braided boy tugged on one of the feathers hanging from his hair, something he only did when he was nervous, and Trowa heard him mutter under his breath, "'Cept you're not very nice right now."

Trowa filed that in his memory for further investigation before commenting. "That's why Duo asked if you were a princess then?"

He mentally winced as furious blue-green eyes locked onto him and he acknowledged the fact that Quatre didn't like him. Not that he liked Quatre, either. "Yes."

"Exactly how did you end up here with lizard-breath anyways, Quatre?" Wufei's chest puffed up and he scowled at Duo for that remark.

Quatre shrugged and all of the anger seemed to slip away from him. "With all of my sisters' dowries combined there was no land left for me to inherit. So I was mostly an unwanted prince and people were afraid that I would fight my sisters' husbands to get back the lands. When a dragon appeared in the kingdom it was decided that a sacrifice was needed to appease to it before it started attacking villages. I was the sacrifice and Wufei was the dragon."

The dragon-boy shifted uncomfortably and shook his head, staring angrily at the ground. "They left Quatre tied to a stake for a night before I decided it was time to investigate. When I came, I found out that it was a trap, but they didn't care if they killed their prince in the process of trying to kill me." 

Wufei's lips curled up in a sneer. "They were trying to kill an innocent and so when I took flight to escape those foul creatures that were called people, I took Quatre with me, for I was sure they would harm him. What they were doing was not honorable." He brought his head back up, gazing at the blond boy shaking his head. 

Wufei sighed, "The idiots actually believed that dragons actually ate virgin sacrifices."

Up to this point Trowa had been intent on listening to the story, shocked at what had happened to the blond boy. Or maybe not so shocked. It sounded very similar to his own situation. However, the last sentence brought a small groan from the blond boy--prince--whose hands covered his face, trying to hide his embarrassment. "Wufei. . ."

"What?"

A small chuckle escaped from Duo's mouth, but the cause of it wasn't what Trowa expected. "This is too rich. Both of you are unwanted princes," he gestured helplessly between Trowa and Quatre, "whose families would happily see gone."

Quatre looked bewildered, glancing at Trowa. "What are you talking about, Duo?"

"He means I'm a healthy second-born prince to a throne that already has a very healthy first-born prince. I'm an heir that could cause trouble if I ever wanted the kingdom, so the best way to remedy the situation is for my father to send me on suicidal quests, hoping that I'll get killed and be out of the way." He frowned, "Duo, would you stop laughing? It's not that funny."

"S-sorry." Slowly the braided boy's laughter was brought under control and he was wiping tears out from under his eyes. "It's just so fucking ridiculous." Duo's violet eyes locked onto Wufei's white-clad figure. "Still, why are you traveling with the dragon boy?"

"I've got nowhere else to go. I have no money to buy anything. So why not stay with him why he's searching for a mate?"

"A mate? You mean he's looking for someone to get it on with?"

Wufei snorted softly, "Yes! Though I wouldn't put it in such undiginified terms. I've been searching everywhere to find one worthy enough to be my mate, but there is no one. Not even here. That's why we were planning to leave tomorrow."

"Tomorrow, huh?" Duo gave Trowa a wink and the green-eyed prince's heart stopped beating for he knew that look. That look meant his braided friend had a plan and most of Duo's plans were trouble. "Maybe we could join you on your journey then."

"WHAT?" His own voice and Wufei's mixed together in disbelief. Quatre seemed to be too stunned to talk.

"Oh come on, Trowa." Duo moved towards him and clung to his side, giving him big puppy eyes. "You know that if you go back home you'll just be sent on another damn quest that you aren't supposed to come back from. If you don't leave, you will get killed sooner or later and I really don't want that to happen." All of the braided boy's attention was on getting Trowa to agree with him. "If you don't return and Wufei's never seen around here again, your father will think the dragon killed you and you killed the dragon. It's the perfect opportunity."

Trowa lowered his voice to a whisper, knowing what his friend said made sense, but still wanting to put up a slight fight. Not that he had much to fight about. "Duo, they haven't even agreed to-"

"Don't worry." The braided boy beamed a smile towards Wufei and Quatre. "You two will let us join you, won't you?"

"I don-" Quatre had begun to speak, but Wufei's voice overpowered his.

"You have gold on you?"

"Yes. I do. Do you, Trowa?" Duo looked questionably at him and the green-eyed prince nodded.

"Good. Then you can come if you pay for lodgings at inns."

"What? Aren't dragons supposed to have vast mounds of treasure? Why can't you pay for your own lodgings?"

"That's another untruth about dragons."

"Oh."

Quatre narrowed his eyes at Wufei. "Why do you want to get rooms at inns now? We've been just fine sleeping outside?"

"Because sleeping outside all the time is wearing on you." Wufei scowled menacingly at Quatre, as if daring him to interrupt. "And since you're now my responsibility, I will not allow you to get sick."

His blue-green eyes flashed with fury and his lips were pinched, but Quatre didn't object.

Trowa bowed his head, his hand reaching out to grip onto the sleeve of Duo's black shirt. "What have you gotten us into?"

His braided companion flashed him a grin. "We'll see. That's the fun part."

*****


	3. Part Three

Pairings: 3x4/4x3 (not yet)

Disclaimer: Yeah, I guess you could say I don't own them. The GW characters belong to their rightful owners and that's not me.

*****

Miscellaneous Heirs - Part Three

by Orerinia Shaydrin

*****

"Ouch! Watch where you step! That rock nearly hit my head."

"It missed? Damn. . ."

"I hope you were joking with that remark." Quatre tried to maintain his upward glare at Trowa, while at the same time tried to concentrate on climbing down the rock path. It wasn't working. He needed to look where he was going and having his head craned in the opposite direction was not helping him.

The tone in Trowa's voice made it sound as if he were smirking. Quatre was sure he was. "And if I did mean it?"

"I would get Wufei to eat you."

"Who said I wanted to eat him?" It seemed that Wufei had been listening to their conversation. Not hard to do, considering that they drowned out Duo's chattering to the dragon boy.

"You wanted to earlier."

"I did not!" Now Wufei was defensive and acted as if he had been greatly insulted. "I was merely going to do him serious injury, perhaps kill him. Not eat him. Humans taste nasty, no dragon in its right mind would eat a human."

"Oh, that's nice. You would have left me for the scavenger birds." Trowa again, this time sounding slightly peeved. He and Wufei hadn't resolved their relationship since they had met, which was about four hours ago. Not that he and Quatre had either.

"Hey!" Duo--having been caught up in one of his stories until that point--flicked his braid over his shoulder and glared at his best friend. "I resent that!"

Trowa gave Duo and exasperated look. "I wasn't speaking about you specifically. I was just trying to make a point."

"Oh yeah! Well it was a slur to corvids of all kinds." Duo sniffed disdainfully, his nose thrown up into the air. "How can we help it if people throw away good table scraps." He stalked off down the chair without another word.

Quatre smirked, "Seems that you aren't getting along with anyone at this point." He cackled uncertainly, not quite sure what it was about the green-eyed prince that bothered him. He wasn't horribly obnoxious--that's what Quatre was--and he was good-looking, a definite plus in Quatre's book, but still there was something about him that set Quatre's nerves on edge. And he didn't know what it was. Maybe that was the reason why. He didn't like this unknown feeling that overcame him whenever he looked at Trowa, so he became defensive.

Why was he even musing over the situation? It was all Duo and Wufei's fault that they were traveling together. Speaking of which, he was going to have a talk with one of them. He hurried down the rocky path as best he could, leaving Wufei and Trowa alone together. He never gave it a second thought.

*****

"Does he always act like this?" Trowa cast an interested look in Wufei's direction.

The dragon boy lifted his head, sharp black eyes narrowed. "At times. He's spoiled."

"Great. I'm traveling with a bratty spoiled prince!" He kicked at a stone that lay in his way--one of the many stones that lay in his way. He was irritated with the situation he had gotten stuck in, even if it was the only way he would be able to disappear from his kingdom without causing a fuss and without getting killed. That was one of the reasons they were climbing down the mountain. If anyone saw the dragon fly away and not come back, they might come up to investigate and see if he was still alive. Another reason was that his armor still lay at the beginning of the trail.

"You should talk. You haven't acted exactly companionable." Wufei strode forward, every step full of purpose. "If you don't, how can you expect anyone else to warm up to you?"

"Maybe." Trowa shortened his strides to match the shorter boy's. "If you asked Duo, he would say that this is the most I've talked in months."

"Is that true? You aren't what I would call quiet."

"It's true. It's hard to speak your mind when you're always put down for your opinions." That was a reference to his father's desperate bids to get rid of him. He had always pushed Trowa down, almost as if he were trying to force his son to become an empty shell.

"Hmm. Well maybe you should stop talking so much. It would make things a lot more peaceful between everyone."

"Hmph!"

*****

"I'm blaming this all on you."

"Hey, it's not my fault your dragon friend agreed that we could come with." Duo jumped off a small ledge, while Quatre carefully made his way down. He gave thanks that they were almost to the bottom of the mountain from hell, as he was so fondly calling it now. "Anyways, it seems to be doing some good for Trowa."

Quatre snorted, placing his hands on his hips and raising an eyebrow in amusement. "Right!"

"Seriously, he hasn't acted so . . . um . . . emotional until he met you. You're actually getting a rise out of him."

"Like I'm going to believe that!"

"If you don't believe me I'm not going to change your mind. I remember how stubborn you were."

"I'm still surprised you even remember that. It was such a long time ago." Sadness crept into his voice.

"Why are you surprised? I think I should be the one more surprised that a prince like you would remember me."

"Not really. It's not everyday that a raven that can turn into a human comes crashing down nearly right on top of me."

"You're right. That would be sort of hard to forget." Duo stopped and turned his head back up the mountain. "We should wait for Trowa and Wufei to catch up."

"Whose waiting?" Quatre continued down the path, avoiding the scarce roots that grew from the trees and that winded onto the path.

"Quatre! Damn, and Trowa calls me obstinate." He followed the blond prince down the trail almost carelessly, the tall green trees providing shade from the sun. There was silence in the air for several seconds before Duo spoke. "So are you really a virgin?"

He cringed instinctively. He knew that Duo was going to ask that question. Biting back a sharp reply, he gave a simple answer. "Yes."

"How did you manage that? I thought everyone would be trying their hardest to get in bed with a prince. Something to brag about" He tugged on one of the black feathers in his hair, literally skipping down the trail. "Trowa's had problems with it since forever."

"It's pretty easy, Duo." He drew a hand through his hair, "Especially when you have twenty-nine sisters watching your every move."

"That protective over you, huh?"

"No. It was because most of them were that leery of me. They didn't like anyone giving me ideas."

"Oh."

*****

Click. A stone flew through the air to hit the silver armor before Quatre. Another stone was thrown, this time landing in the overturned helmet. Duo fidgeted nearby, pacing back and forth, gazing into the brush that surrounded them. "Wonder what's taking them so long?"

"Maybe Wufei changed his mind and ate Trowa."

"That's not exactly a nice thing to say. Give him a chance. He's not that bad of a guy and he is my friend."

Quatre didn't reply, tossing a rock back and forth between his hands. Toss. Catch. Toss again. Catch again. He threw the stone up higher and higher, arching up into the air. He stopped, paused for a second, and then threw it towards Trowa's armor. It hit, the sound of its impact echoing softly.

"What are you doing to my armor?"

Quatre looked up startled. He frowned when he saw who it was. Trowa and Wufei had finally made it down, and it seemed that they had come to an understanding with each other. He didn't like that. "I was throwing rocks at it. I thought that would be obvious."

Trowa's brilliant green eyes flared up. Before anything could be done, Duo jumped in between them. "Come on you guys. Let's not fight." His violet eyes widened and he shook his head ruefully. "Can't believe I actually said that, but it's true. It won't do anybody any good if we keep fighting."

"He's right. The damn raven is right." Wufei grimaced looking down at Trowa's armor. "You aren't expecting me to actually carry that are you? Because I won't."

"Well, what are we going to do with it then? We can't just leave it here for someone to find."

"It wouldn't exactly do much good to carry it with us either! We couldn't sell it. It has your royal insignia carved all over it." The dragon boy gestured to the green and blue badge of a pegasus leaping over a crouching lion on a shoulder guard. "Everyone would know that it came from the royal family. An obvious clue that you might not be as dead as you want people to think."

Trowa cupped his head in his hands, "We can't leave it out in the open . . ."

Duo shook his head sending his thick braid of hair flying right into Wufei's face.

"WATCH IT!"

"Oops. Sorry about that. Just a thought though. Why are we even arguing about what to do with Trowa's armor when we don't even know where we are going?" Duo fiddled with his clothes, straightening them into order. Quatre assumed his movements were something similar to preening in pride.

"Actually, we do know where we are going. Up north." Quatre clasped his hands above his head and stretched. "The next kingdom that way."

Trowa, still in his previous position, groaned deeply, while Duo danced about waving his hands in the air. "Are you fucking crazy? That next kingdom is ruled by an insane queen. The whole kingdom is like a prison camp. In fact one of the ways the king here kept trying to get Trowa killed was to send him to the border between this kingdom and the Queen's. It's insane up there!"

"It can't be that bad, can it?"

"Yes, it can. You have no idea. I once flew over the castle and I was nearly shot down by archers. I got away but not before I saw what it was like. Peasants are herded around like sheep. They live in filth, while the rich and mighty parade about in their luxurious homes."

Quatre stepped back from Duo, wide eyed and amazed. "Isn't that what most kingdoms are like?"

"Not as bad as this one." Trowa dropped his hands away from his head. "I've seen refugees come out of her kingdom into ours, and we always sent them back for fear that their Queen would turn her wrath on us. It's said she knows dark magic."

"We still have to go." Wufei crossed his arms, his dark eyes defiant. "There's a chance that someone there is worthy enough to be my mate. And I can't risk the chance that I will never find her because I didn't go to a certain kingdom."

"Is finding a mate worth getting yourself killed? Damn it! You are fucking crazy!" Duo was tugging frantically on the feathers in his hair.

"You don't understand, Duo. If he doesn't find someone to be his mate. . ." Quatre bowed his head, "Dragons will die out. The others of his kind are too old to have children."

"You mean there's no female dragons running around that he can mate with? Fuck. Wait a minute--how can he mate with a human and still continue producing dragons?"

Wufei huffed slightly, "I can't marry anyone. There are some humans that contain a gift, a magic of sorts in their blood. It allows them to give birth to children that can turn into dragons. I am one of those children myself. The only one left alive."

"Then this is really important." Duo sighed, casting a glance at the silent Trowa. "Kind of changes the outlook on things doesn't it?"

"Yes. It does." Quatre stepped forward, heart in throat for some strange reason. Here was a chance for him to get rid of the green-eyed prince and the raven boy, but why did he feel reluctant to do so? "You still have a chance to leave us. It's still possible to go your own way if you wish."

"I won't." Trowa looked down at Quatre. "It may be another suicide quest I'm getting into, but at least it's my choice."

"And I'm never one to let an adventure pass me by." Duo smiled, shifting from one foot to another. "Besides we have Wufei the dragon boy to use as our secret weapon. We can just have him eat people who threaten us."

"I do not eat people! And I am not your secret weapon, scavenger!"

"Weren't you the one who was going to eat who was going to eat Trowa and me?"

"I wasn't going to eat either of you! I don't eat humans, especially ones that turn into birds that feed on dead carcasses."

"That's nice to know! What do you have against ravens anyways?"

"I have nothing against them, just you."

"Well, I feel honored. You know that?"

A quiet voice at his side caused Quatre to start before he realized it was Trowa. "We should separate them."

"I don't think so. Do you want to get in between them?" He gestured to the arguing pair.

"They did it when we got into a fight."

He rubbed his forehead with the back of his head, "They are also people who can turn into animals. If you wish to get injured, go right ahead and stop them."

Trowa's green eyes flickered to their two quibbling comrades. "You're right. They shouldn't get into a full out fight. Duo has some self-control in that area."

Quatre thought it was more like self-preservation, but it was all a matter of opinion. There was another issue he had to give attention to anyhow. "I really wish you had agreed to leave."

"Why is that?"

"I don't like you."

"Neither do I."

"Then why are you coming with?"

A twisted smile appeared on Trowa's face. "Let's just say it has something to do with the way I was raised."

"Does the way you were raised also have to do with how annoying you are?"

"Look who's talking! You're annoying and a nuisance."

"Ha! I am not annoying." Quatre crossed his arms over his chest, a defensive position he commonly used to try and look bigger than he was. With Trowa hovering several inches above him, it didn't help much. "I'm not the one who insists on taking his armor with him!"

"I do not insist on taking it with me. I just need to do something with it so no one finds it! If someone does, I'm in trouble."

"That's what I call a nuisance."

"Like you're any better."

"I am."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am." The dispute was rapidly turning into a childish game. Quatre was rather enjoying it.

"You're not."

Trowa turned his back to Quatre as if they were done and the blond prince was not even there anymore. "Hey, don't you do that! We aren't done yet!"

Trowa ignored him. He fretted for a second before picking up a stick and poking it at Trowa's back. Still no response. He frowned, drew back the stick and thwacked him on the head with it. Hard.

"Ouch! That hurt!"

"Good. It was meant to."

Trowa drew himself up. "You better have not meant that."

"I did. What are you going to do about it?"

Trowa threw himself at Quatre, who fought back with glee. It was up to Duo and Wufei to disrupt their altercation . . . it they ever ended their own.

*****


	4. Part Four

Pairings: 3x4/4x3 (not yet)

Disclaimer: Yeah, I guess you could say I don't own them. The GW characters belong to their rightful owners and that's not me.

*****

Miscellaneous Heirs - Part Four

by Orerinia Shaydrin

*****

Trowa lifted his hand up and gently felt the bruise that decorated his right eye as he walked along the barely used trail that went through the woods. Duo that morning had laughingly told him what an impressive shiner it was. He didn't need Duo to tell him that, he could feel it for himself.

He glanced behind him where the cause of the bruise was limping behind him. Quatre hadn't gotten away from their fight yesterday without some injuries himself. He smirked. That fact was good to know.

"Trowa, I swear if you are even thinking about going back there and getting into another fight with Quatre I will peck your damn eyes out!" Duo was exasperated to an extent that Trowa had never seen before. It was most likely because Trowa and Quatre couldn't keep their hands off each other. And not in the romantic sense. 

Their fighting had forced Duo and Wufei to come to a truce of sorts. If they hadn't they would have gotten nowhere yesterday, as it was they had barely reached an inn before the sun had set after separating Quatre and Trowa and hiding his armor in the brush surrounding the mountain.

"I wasn't thinking anything like that!" He deftly avoided a puddle that had collected in the middle of the path. It had rained for some time last night, leaving tree's leaves dripping and the trail muddy and slippery--almost an obstacle course filled with large puddles and overhanging trees. He had lost count of how many times he had nearly lost his balance, though he knew it was not nearly as many times as Quatre had. That limp he had given him was upsetting the blond prince's balance enough that he found walking on the slippery ground difficult.

"Yeah, I'm really sure Trowa." Duo's voice reeked of sarcasm. Not an uncommon occurrence, but a sign that he was near the edge of losing his control.

Trowa kept quiet, glaring at the scenery around him. He wouldn't press his luck with Duo, but that didn't mean he couldn't blame this whole mess on him. He was the one who suggested traveling with Wufei and Quatre in the first place. But--a little voice whispered in his mind--you were the one who insisted on going when he had a chance to leave them behind.

He frowned inwardly, wondering why he had done that. It was a because he couldn't let a species--especially one as magnificent as dragons--die out completely, right? Never mind the fact that he had been utterly prepared to kill Wufei a day earlier. It wasn't as if he felt a need to protect Quatre, whom he barely knew. It wasn't as if his heart trembled at the thought of the blond prince possibly facing the evil queen by himself. Unlikely to happen considering how Wufei was so over-protective of him, but that was irrelevant. 

SPLASH!

The sound of a large object falling into a puddle of water, followed by various curses made Trowa and Duo turn around. Trowa's eyebrows raised slightly at the sight of Quatre sitting in the puddle attempting to stand in his now soaked clothes. Wufei--not wanting to get wet--stood near the edge of the puddle reaching out with his hands trying to grab Quatre.

"SHIT! Quatre, are you all right?" Duo left Trowa in the middle of the path with his arms across his chest and an amused light dancing in his eyes to go help Wufei retrieve the blond prince out of the puddle.

"No! I am not all right, Duo! I'm cold, wet, and muddy." Quatre pounded his fists down into the puddle, sending little globules of mud flying through the air and stopping all attempts to rescue him.

Wufei backed up out of the way and grimaced as he watched the irate prince in the water. "Calm down or we're never going to get you out."

Duo had disappeared into the brush and popped back out carrying a long branch. "Here. Now we don't have to get wet getting you out." Pursing his lips, Quatre reached out with a pale hand and grasped the other end of the stick. Several seconds later he was stepping out of the puddle, covered from neck down in slimy muck.

A quiet chuckle escaped from Trowa, watching as Quatre tried in vain to rid himself of the mud that clung to his clothes. Not quietly enough though, for Quatre heard him. "Stop laughing!" He pointed an accusing finger at him. "This is all your fault."

"My fault!" Trowa's mirth changed into bewilderment. "How is it my fault?"

"You were the one who injured me in the fight you started yesterday."

For a moment, worry struck Trowa. Had he really hurt Quatre that much? He was going to ask something in a concerned manner, however it seemed that his mouth had a mind of its own. It wasn't all his fault. "Which fight? I seem to remember you starting one of them and provoking me into the second one."

"You should have more self-control then."

"Don't try to place all the blame on me. You're just as guilty as me." He glared through his one good eye. "I can barely see because of you."

"Good!"

Their companions were slowly starting to move forward, obviously placing themselves so they could intercede between the two of them.

"But I didn't fall into puddle." He knew he was pushing it with his words--taunting Quatre to fight him. This was not one of his brightest ideas.

"Guess I'll have to make the score even then." 

Trowa wasn't too sure he liked where this was going. "What score?"

Surprisingly quick in water-laden clothes Quatre rushed at him, past Wufei and Duo, and he found himself falling back . . . right into a puddle. Of course his reaction was to reach out and grab the nearest object to try and stop his fall. That object just happened to be Quatre, whom he pulled down on top of him.

"Oomph!" Muddy water splashed up around them and Trowa landed on his back with Quatre right on top of him. Bright blue-green eyes blinked down in surprise at him and a smile slowly grew on Quatre's face. He sat up some, leaving him practically sitting on Trowa's lap. It wasn't an entirely an unpleasant situation. Who wouldn't want a beautiful blond prince sitting on their lap, even if they were at odds most of the time--all of the time since they had met? "What was that for?"

Seemingly not caring about the condition of his clothes--perhaps because they were already wet and muck-filled--an impish expression stole over Quatre's face. "I fell into a puddle because of you, you fall into a puddle because of me. I start a fight, you start a fight."

"You two! Get out of there! I am really not in the mood to break up a fight!" Duo's voice; Wufei was keeping quiet. Neither Quatre nor Trowa paid attention to him.

Looking at the mud-streaked face in front of him, Trowa found that he didn't have the will to object to Quatre's reasoning. In a way it was correct, so why argue? Besides he was more distracted about how the smaller prince's body seemed to mold itself to his own and how Quatre's pale-gold hair--relatively clean after his first spill--reflected the faint sunlight that filtered through the trees into his eyes. Definitely a distraction and there was only one way to be rid of it.

He sat up, sending the blond prince tumbling to the side of him, that mischievous grin never leaving Quatre's face. So, he thought this was funny did he? Well, Trowa would show him. Reaching underneath the murky water he grabbed a nice handful of gooey brown mud in his hand. "Your hair's blinding me." With that said he calmly placed the mud in his hand on top of Quatre's hair.

Quatre blinked at him--wide-eyed with disbelief and shock--before he retaliated. "Fine!" A glob of mud was thrown on Trowa's hair, "Your bang is blocking my view!"

"Your view of what?" He asked incredulously, while at the same time grabbing the calf of one of Quatre's legs and pulling the blond prince flat on his back. Quatre sputtered, latched on to Trowa's shirt and pulled him back down into the water as well. Needless to say they were soon rolling around in the water--battling each other--while Duo and Wufei argued who was going to risk breaking them up.

"Hey! You guys, stop this! We're on a quest . . . into an evil queen's territory. Do you guys even care that if you keep this up, you're going to end up getting all of us in trouble?" Duo shook his head as he watched the two combatants still rolling around in the mud. "Wufei, why don't you go separate them?"

"Why should I separate them? Can't you do it?"

"Umm . . . you're better at it than I am?"

"That's a pathetic excuse, bird-brain. You just don't want to get dirty do you?"

"Geez, how did you guess? It's a pain to get mud out of my braid."

"Cut your braid off then."

"Humph . . . Someone should break them up though, I think they're trying to drown each other."

Silence came with only the sounds of muffled curses and the splashing of water.

"FINE! You owe me, scavenger."

Trowa heard the entire conversation, but it didn't quite register within his mind--he was a bit preoccupied with Quatre. They were fighting--that was for certain--but it was different from the times before. No punches were thrown and there was no hostility in their actions. They rolled in the mud and water, attempting to be the one that won. How they would determine who won puzzled Trowa to no end--if that's what this was truly about. He didn't care, however--he just reveled in the delightful feeling that what they were doing seemed slightly wrong . . .

Wrong in the way that two princes of their age shouldn't be rolling around--fighting--in mud. It was something he never had the freedom to do before--it was too undignified for a prince.

Splashing around in the muddy water, Trowa felt someone clasp the back of this shirt and pull up and away from Quatre. The same person lifted Quatre to his feet and placed his body between them in case they attempted to lunge at each other again. Slowly raising his eyes, trying not to breathe too heavily from his little excursion, he grimaced when he saw Wufei's outraged face.

Wufei's pristine white clothes were now splattered in mud and errant strands of his black hair were plastered to his forehead and cheeks. "You two are being ludicrous! I don't know how you think we are going to survive if you keep doing this, but we aren't!" Wufei still had a hold of them and shook them, as if it would help emphasize his words . . . and it did. Trowa made a mental note that while in human form, Wufei was much stronger than any normal person had a right to be. "Clean up your act. Both of you! Or I will take care of you myself."

He released his captives, tucked the strands of hair behind his ears, glared at his companions, muttered inaudible words underneath his breath before he stalked forward down the trail with the declaration, "We are finding a lake or stream to clean up in. In your state you would attract too much attention . . . and I refuse to walk into the next village looking like this."

And like that the matter was dropped. Wufei didn't need to say anything else, his vague threat was enough. Especially since he could turn into a dragon.

"Ha! Maybe you'll behave now and keep your hands off each other." Duo stalked past them, still clean and in good-shape being the only one who wasn't covered in muck. "I swear if I didn't know better I would assume you were a newlywed couple who can't keep their hands off each other."

Trowa's green eyes met Quatre's blue-green ones and they came to a silent agreement. They could insult one another, but no one was allowed to insult them. Two sets of hands pushed Duo face first into the nearest puddle and two nearly identical smirks appeared on two faces as a shout rang throughout the forest.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!!!"

*****

The queen tapped her fingers on the parchment she held as she read the words drafted on to it. Before her, the scroll's messenger stood ram-rod straight--her dark brown eyes waiting for the queen to say something. The queen smirked, leaned over to one of her assistants and sent him off to run an errand for her. Sitting back she rolled up the parchment and tapped the end of it in one of her palms. "You say that your king sent you with these in hope that they might help form an alliance between our countries?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." The young woman bowed her head, "My king wishes for our kingdoms to become allies. He believes that it will strengthen both our kingdoms."

"Hmm," the queen sneered and gestured to the six guards that had just come into her throne room, "I thought so. Guards, arrest this woman!"

"WHAT?" The messenger shouted in incredulity as two guards constrained her arms behind her back. "What are you doing? Let me go!" Her legs kicked out, striking one of the approaching guards, while her eyes searched the queen's for an answer.

"Why I'm arresting you and throwing you into one of my dungeons. I would never accept these terms that your king has given me, and he is a fool if he thought I would." The queen giggled, "Of course, seeing as who he sent as his messenger I do have to take advantage of the situation. You're from a reasonably prestigious family and I'm sure they would pay a very handsome ransom to get their hands back on you."

"YOU DISHONORABLE BITCH!" The young woman struggled, screaming and kicking her feet up in outrage. 

The queen just waved her guards off--smirking--and called out after them, "Put her into the cell next to my mother-in-law. I'm sure she would enjoy some company."

As the messenger's shouts died down and advisor caught the queen's attention. "Don't you think, Your Majesty, that it is a bit peculiar that someone of that young woman's class would be sent to deliver a treaty between our kingdoms?"

"Perhaps, but it might have been a gesture of good will."

"I doubt that, My Queen. I have heard of this woman's family--and while she is not royalty, she is from the upper class nobility."

"Heh, interesting. Maybe something will come of it, maybe nothing will come of it. We will just have to see if her family will pay the ransom and if they do not, I'm sure I can find a use for her." She frowned and placed the scroll in the advisor's hands. "Burn this. My kingdom does not need allies."

*****

"Duo, are you sure that we will be safe traveling into this queen's kingdom?" Quatre asked as he pulled his shirt over his head, wrinkling his nose in disgust at the condition of the fabric.

"Nope!" Duo with his hair out of its braid and floating in the blue lake water, glanced up from where he knelt, trying to scrub the last of the mud out of his chestnut strands. "But we should get by. Traveler's and merchants are allowed to travel where they please, so there are inns to stay at despite the queen's coldness towards guests. I guess all kingdoms need some outside business."

"I suppose so." Quatre grimaced as he stepped into the water still wearing his pants, "It's freezing! How can you stand it, Duo?"

"It's because he has thick skin . . . along with a thick skull." Trowa entered the water after him, shirtless and hissing at the contact of the cool water against his skin. For a moment Quatre's eyes were glued to Trowa's well-muscled chest and the way the sun glinted off his bronze tanned skin. He jerked his eyes away, blushing slightly, and waded farther into the water. He didn't like Trowa . . . right?

"HEY! I am not that bad!" Duo threw his head back sending a glittering cascade of water droplets through the air. He looked over his shoulder at the only person that had yet to join them in cleaning up. "Wufei, aren't you coming in? You look like you could use it."

"Yes, I am, but before I do I want to make one thing clear. If either of you," Wufei pointed at Trowa and Quatre, "do anything to set me back in my quest, I will personally take care of you in any means that I see fit. Understand?"

"When you say that you're going to take care of them, Wufei, does that mean you're prepared to eat them?" Duo's mouth turned up in a sadistic grin, "I thought you didn't eat people."

Wufei ignored Duo's remark and stood at the water's edge before transforming into a dragon. The wind came up in a swirl around him, its bitter chill making the water seem warmer to Quatre. Stretching massive wings up into the sky, Wufei slithered into the lake, careful not to disturb the water too much. That was until his tail came close to Duo. With a swift movement Wufei's tail slapped down into the water, spraying Duo and once more soaking his braid. "That was for the eating people remark, scavenger."

"Why you-"

Quatre bit back his laughter and ducked his head under the water. Running his fingers through his hair in an attempt to loosen the mud that had dried in it, he lifted himself back up through the water's surface. Not surprisingly, Duo was still ranting. "-not all of us are scavengers!"

"Could have fooled me."

Quatre shook his head and chuckled. They all seemed doomed to fight and disagree with one another in some way. 

Feeling eyes on his back, he turned to see Trowa gazing at him. Was he checking him out? "What are you looking at?"

Trowa abruptly turned his head, "Nothing. I was looking at nothing."

*****


	5. Part Five

Warnings: AU, fantasy, yaoi, het Pairings: 3+4/4+3 Notes: And so I can on a posting spree at FFN . . . Heh . . . comments are appreciated. ***** Miscellaneous Heirs - Part Five   
by Orerinia Shaydrin 

*****

Fields full of golden wheat rolled across the hillsides, orchids of plump, ripe fruits grew along the sides of a road made of cobblestones, and in certain places meadows of bright green grass and vibrantly colored flowers appeared. It had every right to be called a paradise . . . almost. 

Working in the golden fields were men, skin brown from the sun, but looking as if they were only made of sticks. In the orchards, women picked the fruit, faces gaunt and eyes wide with fear. Guards marched along the roads, splendid in their red and black uniforms, skin pale with fright and worry. Children could be seen playing the in meadow, the drab colors of their clothes washed out among the bright flowers, but their laughter rang false, as if they only laughed to give ease to the people slaving around them.

Quatre reached out in front of him and snagged a hold of Duo's chestnut braid. "HEY! Watch what you're doing there! The braid is off-limits."

He ignored Duo's protest, frowned and pointed at the people around them, "What's wrong with them? There's so much food around here and most of the workers look like they're starving. And everyone seems scared."

"From what I've heard, the queen here takes all of the resources that are grown or made here and uses them for herself and the nobles who stand by her side. She only gives the people enough so that they can survive." Their whole group had slowed their pace, Duo momentarily forgetting that Quatre still had a hold on his braid. "There's a rumor that she practices the Dark Art and that's why no one dares go against her."

Wufei raised an eyebrow, "The Dark Art? Not many people dare learn it for it depends mainly on the sacrifices of . . ."

"Of human beings, among other things." Trowa frowned, "We have every right to believe the rumor true for she's been known to send back the bodies of spies, delegates, and diplomats . . . minus certain vital organs or lacking blood."

"That's a pleasant thought, isn't it? Does anyone else have an urge to turn around and leave?" Duo twirled around, "OUCH! Quatre, let go of the braid!"

"Ooops! Sorry."

Wufei shook his head, as Duo rubbed gingerly at the back of his neck, "I'm going to keep going. I can't fail the others of my kind. They are depending on me."

"Damn." Muttering various curses under his breath, Duo stared at the ground in thought, before jerking his head up abruptly and looking into Wufei's black eyes. "Please tell me we are not going near the castle."

"The castle?"

"The castle." He nodded, "It's about two days journey from here and stands above one of the bigger cities in this kingdom. There are other castles around, but that's the one that the queen lives in year-round. If we go near it, there's a big chance she might actually catch us."

"I'll try to stay away from the castle, but if the one I'm searching for is anywhere near there . . ." Wufei didn't have to finish the sentence. He didn't have to.

"Aw, shit. Then you would have to go to the castle, huh?" Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Duo gazed up at the sky, "How can you tell where this mate of yours is, anyway?"

"He just does. It's a dragon thing."

Green eyes settled on Quatre, "He wasn't talking to you."

"And I wasn't talking to you."

This would have continued further if Wufei and Duo hadn't placed their hands on their respective companions. "Why can't you two stop fighting for a fucking minute?"

Silence reigned with Wufei breaking it for another question. "Are you sure that it's safe for us to be out in the open like this, then."

His attention diverted from Quatre and Trowa, Duo cocked his head to one side, "Most people will just assume we're traders or some such, that is if no one attracts too much attention to us." He cast a meaningful glance towards Quatre and Trowa again, then turned his head and gave a huge grin to Wufei. "Of course if someone decides to attack us, we can always have Wufei turn into a dragon and eat them."

"I've told you that I don't eat people!"

"What if what attacks us isn't human?"

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Quatre shook his head. And Wufei and Duo talked about how much they argued, when they were no better themselves, at least, not by much.

"NOOOOO! PLEASE LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Duo and Wufei stopped their impending argument, and with Trowa and Quatre turned to find the source of the scream. A young girl clung to a man, tears streaming down her face, while two guards grabbed the man's arms and another two guards stood armed with spears, pointing them in the direction of the girl.

Without thinking, Quatre ran towards the group as fast as his legs could carry him. Desperation spurred him forward as one of the spear-carrying guards raised his weapon and brought the blunt edge down towards the girl's head. At the last second, he reached his hand up and stopped its descent, wincing at the impact.

The guards blinked at him in surprise and the girl took the opportunity to get a better hold on the man, this time wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him desperately. Grabbing the shaft of the spear, Quatre shoved at it, causing the guard holding it to take several steps back. "What's going on here?" he asked incredulously.

A guard grabbed him by the shoulder, "It's none of your business. Move on."

"I don't care if it's none of my business! What could have this man done to deserve the treatment you're giving him? He barely looks like he should be working these fields." Quatre shook off the guard's hand and gestured to the man. His words held true, the man was skin and bones, his body younger than his face looked. Every breath he took, rattled in his chest and rasping out into the air. The little girl hanging on to him couldn't have been more than eight, with a dirty, tear-streaked face.

"You don't need to know." Reaching for Quatre again, the guard's movement was met by Wufei's hand grasping his wrist.

"It might be a good idea to keep your hands off our friend."

Trowa and Duo appeared from behind Wufei and moved to Quatre's side. The little girl, perhaps feeling her courage grow once more with the approach of four young men, looked at them beseechingly. "They're taking Papa away from me!" Her small fingers dug into her father's clothes, her voice shrill with apprehension.

Duo locked furious violet eyes onto on of the guards holding the man, "Why are you taking him away?"

An answer didn't come from the guards--though all four of them looked remorseful--but from the man himself. "I couldn't pay the dues for my home. I have to go to the nearest town and pay the price." Every word was a struggle for the man to say.

"Papa can't pay them because he's been using them to get medicines for Mommy! She's been sick." The little girl's wide brown eyes slid shut and she buried her head in her father's raggedy shirt, causing her next words to be muffled. "Please don't let them take him away. Please . . ."

"Kayla, let go of me. I'll be back, I promise."

She whimpered, "But not like you are now."

Quatre narrowed his eyes and stared at the guards. All of them avoided his gaze, except one of the ones that held a spear. Something was utterly wrong here. "How is he," Quatre jerked his head in the man's direction, "going to pay the price."

The guard who had made eye contact with him, shifted nervously. "If he's lucky, he gets his hand cut off."

That guard's remark set off a chain of other remarks from the other guards, "We can't do anything about it or else our queen will harm our families."

"You can't do anything about it, unless you can provide a miracle."

"Just let us do what we came here to do. If you try to interfere, you'll just make it that much worse for this man and his family."

Realization hit Quatre, these people--the man, the guards, the little girl--were stuck in the same boat, so to speak. They lived in terror that their queen's wraith would come upon them and ruin their lives. Theirs was a strange sort of desperation, but no one seemed to blame the other for what was happening; it was a daily occurrence to make survival necessary; not just for themselves, but for their families as well.

"Can this man's dues still be paid off so he can go free?" Trowa's hand was reaching into the pouch hanging from his belt.

One of the guards holding the man's arms, bit his lip and nodded, "Yes, but considering how long . . ." his voice trailed off when Trowa pulled out several silver coins and placed them in a guard's hand.

"That should be enough, right?"

The guard with the money in his hand, nodded his head in something akin to disbelief, "It's more than enough."

Quatre straightened his back, "Good, then you can leave this man alone and get about to your other duties."

The man's arms were released with the guards, the man, and the girl giving looks of relief and thanks. As they left, the guards nodded their heads in the direction of Quatre and his companions.

"You didn't have to do that," the man wheezed, "but thank you."

"You don't have to thank us." Trowa took the man's hand in his own and placed several more silver coins into it, "Take this. You can use it to get a doctor for your wife . . . or even yourself. You need to be healthy for your daughter's sake."

The man's eyes widened, "I-I don't know what-"

"Don't start, please." Quatre ran his hand through his hair, "Just go home. I'm sure the rest of your family is waiting for you."

With a shaky nod in compliance the man moved forward, his daughter at his side. When they had only gone a little distance, they stopped and the little girl came running back to them. "Thank you so much!" She leaped, wrapped her arms around Trowa's waist. He stared in shock and before he could say anything, she had moved onto Duo.

With another shouted "Thank you," she hugged him and gently tugged one of the feathers in Duo's braid. Then it was Wufei's turn, the dragon boy gazed at the girl in shock with his black eyes. Next was Quatre and he smoothed down her hair, giving a soft smile. He felt something cold pressed in one of his hands and looked up to see Trowa's green eyes. The other prince nodded and stepped back.

Just as the girl was about to leave, he gently took her by the shoulders and tipped her chin up. "Here, take this." He pressed a coin into the palm of her hand, "Use it only when you have to."

She moved her head up and down, before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and running back towards her waiting father.

When father and daughter had moved out of hearing range, Wufei spoke. "Was it really that wise giving away so much money?"

Trowa shrugged nonchalantly, "I have more than enough left and even if I didn't Duo has all kinds of cash stashed on him."

"That was a secret!"

"I didn't realize that."

Duo made a slightly displeased noise, before glancing in the direction the guards had taken, "This place is more screwed up than I first thought."

"Without a doubt."

"Heh, you've got that right, Quatre."

*****

The girl knelt down and pushed a tray of food through the slot in the bottom of the door. A pair of lightly tanned hands grabbed it from the other side and pulled the tray the rest of the way through. The girl lowered her head so she could gaze at the owner of the hands. "How are you doing?"

Another girl's voice answered her, "As well as I can be doing stuck in a dungeon."

"I'm sorry about this," the girl offered an apologetic smile, "but maybe your family will buy you free."

"They won't." A small defeated sigh followed, "They wouldn't have sent me here if they had wanted me back. This was all a ploy to get rid of me."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. And if I ever manage to escape this bitch queen, she and they are going to pay!"

A soft woman's voice filled with steel answered her in the next cell. "Make sure I'm with you at the time. That step-daughter of mine will answer to me when I get free."

"As much as I abhor violence, I can only agree with both of you." The girl rose to her feet, "Someone needs to take care of her once and for all. I'm not going to be back tonight, I have duties in the kitchen I have to attend to."

She exited the dungeon, brushing her hair back behind her ears and looking for a certain person. A fellow servant to be exact. She spotted him quickly and grabbed him by a shoulder. He shrugged her hands off him and glared at her. It had no effect on her. "Can you do me a favor? I'm not going to be able to collect the prisoners' dishes tonight . . . can you do it for me?" She gave him the biggest, bluest eyes she possibly could.

Her fellow servant stiffened and looked for an escape route, "I should just let you take the heat for not being able to do all of your jobs."

"But I can't do all of them tonight. The queen . . . got rid of one of the other kitchen girls and now I have to take care of the things she used to do." She grasped his forearm, "Please, you're the only one I can count on."

He moved away from her, steps quick and sure. "I'll do it, but just this time, Relena."

"I owe you, Heero."

*****

The opening of the door to his room in the inn woke Trowa from the half-slumber that he had been in. He sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes, and looked at shock at the figure dressed in white silk pants and a loose white silk shirt in the doorway. "Quatre?"

"Oh, it's you Trowa! I thought this was Duo's room." The blond prince slowly edged out of the room.

"His is across the hall, but he's not in there right now. I think he went out to fly or get drunk."

Quatre stopped retreating, "Get drunk? Is that really a smart thing to do here?"

"Probably not, but Wufei went to keep an eye on him."

"Is that any better?"

"No better than us keeping an eye on each other."

Trowa watched as Quatre looked at the ground, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter. "I think we should be worried."

"They can take care of themselves . . . I hope." He pushed the covers off of him and sat on the edge of his bed.

Quatre's smile quickly turned into a grimace. "In a place like this they had better be careful."

"Yeah," Trowa stared at his hands before looking up to where Quatre stood. "Are you going to stay there or come in?"

Quatre jumped slightly, blushed, and closed the door behind him. "Did you know that this place was this bad?"

Shifting on his bed slightly, Trowa patted the side of his bed to show Quatre that he could sit down beside him. "No. I never thought that the queen here had her subjects so afraid of her that they would . . ."

"Turn on each other to insure their survival." Quatre plopped down next to Trowa and curled his legs up under him. "And I thought my kingdom was bad. At least most of the nasty stuff that took place was confined to my family."

"The nasty stuff?"

"All of the plotting and fear." For one moment, Quatre's blue-green eyes looked far too old for his age. "Usually against me."

"Your family, too?" Trowa had known that Quatre had been unwanted like he had been; it just hadn't sunk in until now.

Pale hands tightened together, "Yes. It's been nearly two months since I've left it all behind, but I still get nightmares sometimes."

Trowa laid one of his hands over Quatre's, stopping their fidgeting. "That's why you wanted to see Duo, isn't it? You had a nightmare."

Quatre shrugged, as if trying to forget it all. "It's no big deal, it's just that when I met Duo before, he could always make me feel better."

"It is a big deal. You're not the only one that has nightmares. Duo's pretty good at listening when he shuts up."

"That's true." Quatre started to stand, his shoulders hunched forward, looking like he was a man going to his own execution. "I'm tired. I should go to bed."

In a split second decision, Trowa pulled Quatre back down to the bed. It was one of those strange impulses he acted on from time to time. Even though he and the other prince had fought incessantly since they had met, he couldn't let Quatre sleep by himself for the remainder of the night. He knew how it felt to wake up from a nightmare and go back to sleep only to be plagued by another shortly after. "Stay here tonight. You're just going to have more nightmares if you sleep by yourself."

Quatre bit the inside of his cheek, unsure of what to do. Trowa made the decision for him. He pulled the covers to his bed further down and dragged Quatre onto the bed. Another movement brought the covers back up over the both of them. "We'll keep our nightmares at bay together, okay?"

"Okay," Quatre's eyelids were already sliding shut, the need to sleep weighing heavily on them. No objections came from his lips, perhaps he was just too tired; he was tired enough to slip of to the land of dreams within minutes, so it was possible.

Trowa lay on his back, following Quatre into slumber when he felt the blond prince turn slightly and curl around him. He froze in place with Quatre now laying on his arm, one hand on his chest, and his blond head finding its way onto his shoulder. It wasn't entirely uncomfortable--it was comforting to tell the truth--but it had caught him unaware and he had to remind himself to breathe.

The soft rhythm of Quatre's chest against his own lulled him into a state of partial-awareness. Tonight, both would sleep peacefully together, even if in the morning they would turn back to their old habit of fighting with each other.

But that would be in the morning.


	6. Part Six

Warnings: AU, fantasy, yaoi, het Pairings: 3+4/4+3 ***** 

Miscellaneous Heirs - Part Six   
by Orerinia Shaydrin 

*****

The soft up and down movements underneath his head drew Quatre farther away from the soft comfort of sleep. Somewhere in his foggy mind, he came to the conclusion that he was resting on somebody's chest. Every breath that person took brought him closer to wakefulness. He yawned and moved closer to the body, for one second not realizing who he lay next to, just enjoying the comfort of a warm body next to his own.

He opened his eyes lazily, blinking until the figure beside him came into focus. A lean muscled torso, covered by a dark brown undershirt, and a head covered by brown hair with eyes closed, but had they been open they would have been a startling green.

Trowa.

He jerked away out of shock. Unfortunately, he was a little too close to the edge of the bed and ended up rolling right off of it onto the hard floor . . . bringing Trowa, who was entangled in the blankets they had shared that night, right with him. Quatre grunted when the larger boy's weight landed on top of him.

A sweep of hair brushed across Quatre's face and he looked into the bewildered green eyes behind it. He stared right back, very aware of Trowa's body on top of his own, their legs entwined and chests pressed together. He drew in a sharp breath, while Trowa managed to open his mouth to ask a question. "W-w-what happened?"

"Nothing," Quatre shoved futilely at Trowa. "Get off of me!"

"All right," Trowa--not completely understanding what was going on--tried his best to leverage himself off Quatre. It didn't work, the blankets were wrapped too tightly around them, he only succeeded in pushing himself up against the unyielding barrier of the blankets. Down he fell on top of Quatre again. "Oomph!"

Quatre stilled in shock, before bursting into action and pummeling his fists on Trowa's arms, "I told you to get off of me!"

"I'm trying!" Struggling, Trowa tried to get away from the hands that sought to do him damage, "What has gotten into you? You weren't like this last night!"

"That was last night!" He wiggled back and forth as if that would somehow help him get away from Trowa. "Now get off of me!"

"I'm trying! Ouch! Would you just hold still?"

"NO!"

Quatre struggled to free his arms, complicating Trowa's own struggles to get off of him, "DAMN IT, QUATRE! STOP MOVING!"

"I WANT TO GET OUT OF THIS!"

"SO DO I!"

The door to the room was thrown open, Duo and Wufei stepping inside, confused looks on their faces when they saw Quatre and Trowa's predicament. Duo stared crossly at them, his violet eyes slightly glazed from sleep, "What the hell is going on in here?"

"He won't get of off me!"

"I'm trying!"

"Could you two 'try' a little quieter then. You're attracting unwanted attention from the inn's other guests." Wufei shut the door behind him, glaring down at them unhappily.

Duo leaned over them, a crooked smile growing on his face, and one of his hands tugging on one of the black feathers in his braid that had somehow managed to stay immaculate through the night. "Soooo, what are you two doing together in the same room? Tangled up in blankets . . . veeeeeery close too each other?"

"Duo, don't even go there."

"Aww, come on, Trowa. You aren't going to tell me that what I think happened, didn't happen?"

"Yes, I am, because it didn't happen."

"You're no fun."

"Would someone please get him off of me!" Quatre--not very amused at the topic of conversation--started moving about again in impatience.

Wufei grunted, kneeling down to untangle the blankets. Several seconds later Trowa was standing up while Quatre crouched, eyeing him warily. Growling, Wufei reached down and pulled Quatre up. "Come on. We don't have any time to waste, especially with you two idiots attracting attention like this." He glared at Trowa, "Get dressed, we'll met you downstairs in ten minutes."

Quatre stumbled after him, looking back, almost apologetically at Trowa as Wufei shut the door behind them. Duo turned to Trowa his eyebrows raised in question, "Is it just me or does Wufei seem unusually uptight this morning?"

Trowa shrugged, "Perhaps." He gathered up the pile of blankets and piled them on top of the bed.

"You're back to one word answers now . . ."

" . . . "

"Or not answering at all. You've regressed back to your normal state." Duo plopped down on the unmade bed, a mischievous grin on his face, "Maybe we should get Quatre back in here. He seems to be able to get you out of your uncommunicative little hole. Speaking of which, what was Quatre doing in here, Trowa?"

"Nothing you are insinuating, Duo." Trowa scrounged through the room, making sure he had everything collected.

Pursing his lips, Duo tugged on a feather hanging from his braid, "I'm not so sure of that . . . maybe I'll go ask Quatre!" He lifted himself off the bed and made as if to leave the room.

Trowa's hand on his arm stopped him, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Why not?"

"Because I would bet that Wufei is giving Quatre a dressing down and he's not going to be too happy afterwards."

"So what?" Duo shuffled closer to the door, "That's what makes it so much fun."

Trowa hid his smirk, "Not when he asks you what you were doing with Wufei last night."

Violet eyes widening, Duo thrust out his chest defensively, "I wasn't doing anything with dragon boy last night!"

"Whatever . . ."

"I wasn't!" He paused, narrowing his eyes, "You bastard!"

"Not my fault you fell into that one."

*****

The red headed queen thoughtfully drummed her fingers along her cheek. She stared at one of her advisors, a slow smirk growing on her face. "Two of those . . . boys . . . that my men came across are actually royalty?"

"Yes, Your Highness." The advisor shuffled the sheets of parchment he held, "From the information that I received from your . . . spies . . . that is who they seem to be." The queen's spies was an iffy subject. No one was sure of what they were--if they were even human. It was common belief that they were ghosts summoned from death to keep on the kingdom at the queen's bidding.

"Well, well, then. Perhaps we should invite them to join me here. It wouldn't do to have them wandering the countryside." She stood, her small form diminutive against the huge gold-adorned throne behind her, "I must give my spies--as you call them--a reward for telling me of this. And you as well, of course, for without you, I would have never have known who these strangers were. I am grateful that I have such a well-learned and well-traveled man within my court."

Her dainty feet walked down the stairs covered in plush red carpet, "First, however, something must be done about those guards . . ."

"My Queen, they did nothing wrong. They got more than enough money to pay for that man's due."

"You dare take a stance against me?" The petite queen glared upwards, her blue eyes filled with anger. "Those guards of mine took the money from those foreigners, not the man. That man should be punished as well, along with his family."

The advisor backed up, throat contracting as he swallowed in fear. "I am not taking a stance against you, I'm just suggesting that perhaps they should not be punished for something that was not their fault. They acquired the money that they came for, Your Majesty."

His life hung in the balance, one word from her and he was going to be the castle dogs next meal. It was dangerous to even suggest that the queen was mistaken. More than one person had died for as tiny a offense as preparing the wrong food for her dinner.

This time the advisor was lucky.

The queen swished by him, her hand waving at him in dismissal, never looking back. "As you wish, the guards, the man, and his family will not die. I shall let them off the hook." Now she looked back, a cruel smile twisted across her porcelain features, "That is your reward from me." A bitter laugh came forth from her lips, "Before you rejoice that you are still alive, bring those princes and their companions to me. They shall be guests."

She walked out, hips swishing back and forth, a hand fanning her face, "Until I decide what use I have for them, of course."

It was possible that the queen wouldn't keep her promise; it was likely that at least the guards would end up dead, but at least he still lived. For now.

He bowed as she left, "As you wish, Queen Mariemaia."

*****

The girl grimaced at the sop that was supposedly soup. "It never changes, does it?"

"The scenery or the food?" A woman's voice asked from the cell next to her own.

The girl eyed her surroundings, the cold damp stone, the dirty straw that made a bed, the tattered blanket that served as her only source of warmth, and the old bucket that was a toilet. "Both." She shoved the bowl away from her, knocking the contents out of it. "I want out! I can't take this anymore!" She pounded her fists on the floor, ignoring the pain that came from impacting flesh on stone.

"Be a little more patient. I need to have your help when I get out of here and throttle my step-daughter."

"Then you had better need my help soon, because I don't have much time left before I am no longer on this plane of existence."

"You shouldn't be so pessimistic. Your family might come through with the ransom."

"They won't. They sent me here to get me out of the way, so they can marry off my obedient little sister to the next asshole that comes along." Her rich voice rose an octave higher in fury, "They need a dependable /man/ to run our lands. An independent young woman who does not wish to marry someone of her parents' choosing is disposable to them."

"Then they are idiots, Meiran."

Meiran drew her legs up to her chest and glared through the bars of her cell, "You are the only one who believes so, Queen Une." She lowered her head between her knees, "You are right. I can't give up, yet. Still have to teach that bitch a lesson."

"Good," the woman answered, "and just call me Une. I'm not a queen anymore, and not even a lady like I once was."

*****

It seemed an irratable time of day or, perhaps, it was just the company he was in. Not that it was bad company, it was just . . . straining. Duo had been hopping about ahead of him, singing in a loud voice, changing from raven to human. At least that's what he had done until Wufei had gotten on his case about being an idiot and attracting attention. Now Duo walked sullenly by his side, muttering various insults about dragon boys with sticks up their asses. Trowa deemed it a good thing that Wufei was too far ahead of them to hear those words.

On the other hand, Wufei kept pushing everybody forward. No rests, no breaks, and no stops for lunch. Something was pulling him along and he was following that pull as fast as he could. Of course, anyone who complained about the pace was forced to face his wrath. He was on edge to day for no noticeable reason, unless it was catching Quatre with Trowa in the morning, nevermind that it had been completely harmless.

Quatre trailed behind everyone, not the wisest thing to do, but Trowa believed it had something to do with Wufei. After he had escaped from Wufei's ire, he had done everything in his best interests to keep his distance away from him, though it hadn't stopped him from glaring daggers at the dragon boy. Fortunately, he had never directed those gazes at Trowa, somehow a great relief to the other prince.

The sun might have added a touch to the tension. It was a beautiful day. The sun sat in the blue heavens showing the green earth with its golden rays. A perfect day to go and relax beneath a tree and imagine figures in the clouds; that was if they could have actually rested under a tree and do so, but as it was, they walked along a dusty path, the sun beat down upon them and their sweating bodies were starting to wear out.

Trowa fell back, catching his breath slightly and falling into place beside Quatre. Quatre glanced at him with big blue-green eyes and then looked down at the ground bashfully, "I'm sorry about acting like a complete idiot this morning."

The apology took a moment to sink in. Trowa raised an eyebrow and shrugged, "It was understandable."

"No, it wasn't. I shouldn't have freaked out like that, especially after getting stuck in the blankets like that."

He studied Quatre for a moment, then shook his head. "What's so interesting down there?"

Quatre pulled his head up, bit his lip, and blushed slightly, "Not a thing."

"WUFEI! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING?" Duo had come to a stop at where the road parted into two different directions, one straight ahead and the other to the right. Wufei was currently stomping straight ahead, only whirling around when Duo yelled at him. "THAT'S THE WAY TO THE CASTLE! WE'RE NOT GOING THAT WAY! REMEMBER?"

"You don't have to shout, scavanger. And, yes, we are going this way. I have to go this way." Wufei placed his hands on his hips, tapping his foot.

Pulling his braid over his shoulder, Duo tugged on it. "You have to go this way . . ." he trailed off, realization dawning on him, "FUCK! You mean your mate is at the queen's castle!" Duo danced about, cursing and nearly yanking his braid out. Trowa unconsciously wrapped on arm around Quatre, bringing him closer to his chest as if to protect him from the braided boy, who looked like he was about to have a hernia.

Trowa noted the dragon boy didn't look very happy himself. "Are you sure about this, Wufei?"

"Yes!" he hunched his shoulders, "As much as I wish I don't want know where she is, I know she's this way."

Duo stopped his agitated prancing and pinned Wufei with his eyes, "What do you mean, 'you don't want to know where she is?' If you don't want to find her, then why are you looking!"

Quatre wiggled out from under Trowa's arm, "It's because it's his duty. The other dragons sent him to find a mate."

"I know that, Quatre! I'm just wondering why he is looking for her when he doesn't want to! Can't he just ignore them and leave? It's not that hard."

"Maybe for you, it isn't. But I gave my word to the others and I will not fail them." Wufei straightened, turned around, and walked away again.

Duo rolled his eyes, "Shit! You know you're going to get us killed, don't you?" No answer. "We're already too close to the castle for my own comfort." He kicked at an invisible rock and followed slowly after.

"Do you think he's right about Wufei getting us killed?" Trowa started forward, glancing at Quatre.

The blond prince shrugged, "He hasn't gotten me killed, but . . ." he trailed off, narrowing his eyes, and then latched a hand onto Trowa's arm. "Do you see what I see?"

Trowa squinted at the cloud of dust that had appeared in front of them. His lips curved downward as his eyes focused on the cause of that dust cloud. "Wufei! Duo! Look ahead!" The two shape-shifters had been withdrawn into themselves, but with Trowa's cry, they looked up.

"SHIT! Where did they come from?" Duo reached forward, grabbed one of Wufei's sleeves, and pulled him backwards.

"I don't know, but there's more behind us." Quatre had turned around and was now pressing his back against Trowa's.

"Well, that's not good! Wufei, do something!"

"What do you want me to do?"

"Transforming would be nice!"

Wufei frowned, staring at the two groups of horsemen coming from either side. "I can't do that. We have no idea of their intentions. I will not harm anyone if they do not mean me harm."

"I don't think we have to worry about their intentions. They're wearing this kingdom's colors and I'd say it's pretty damn obvious that the queen sent them. Trowa, help me out here . . ."

"We wait, Duo. If there is any trouble, I'm sure Wufei will get us out of it." Trowa watched as the horsemen came closer.

"Fine! We'll just wait here like sitting ducks." He crossed his arms across his chest, grumpily, but slowly edged towards Trowa and Quatre.

A tense silence followed as the horsemen galloped up to them. They formed a circle around them, cutting off all routes for escape. The only hopeful thing was that they did not draw their swords. One horsemen, nodded his head down at them, "Queen Mariemaia of Triel has asked for the presence of Prince Trowa of the Kingdom Barli and Prince Quatre of the Kingdom Reva in her court. She wishes to discuss diplomatic relations with your countries."

Duo hissed under his breath, audible only to his companions, "How does she know who you two are?"

Wufei shrugged, silent and still, waiting to see if he had to take care of these men. Quatre stepped away from Trowa, who immediately wished he hadn't done so. "We no longer have any connections with our kingdoms. We would be of no help to her."

The horseman leaned slightly lower, "Yes, you would be. You could help her understand the workings of your kingdoms, making it easier to gain an alliance with them. Besides, it is not wise to deny the Queen's request."

Quatre glanced at the other horsemen, most of whom looked back blankly, and at his comrades. He chewed on his bottom lip, deciding on something that Trowa could not fathom. He evidently came to a decision, for he looked up and met with the horseman who had been speaking to them. "We will go with you."

Trowa stared in shock as Quatre grabbed the horseman's hand and swung up behind him, barely hearing Duo's shout of startlement. The blond prince looked over the horseman's shoulder, mouthing the words, 'Trust me.'

Clenching his teeth, Trowa allowed himself to be pulled up behind another horseman. When he caught Quatre's eyes, he gave a silent answer in the same way.

'Fine, but you had better explain later.'


	7. Part Seven

Warnings: AU, fantasy, yaoi, het Pairings: 3+4/4+3 Notes: Okay, FFN now has all the parts of MH that are completed. I love feedback. Gimme? ^___^ ***** 

Miscellaneous Heirs - Part Seven   
by Orerinia

*****

Servants walked around the edges of the courtyard, trying their best not to noticed by the nobles. They scurried around, looking furtively right and left, like mice locked in a room with cats, as they went about their business. Whatever their business might be could have been anything from fetching herbs for a healer or running back and forth between a lord and his wife as they fought from a distance, using a servant as their messenger boy.

The servants dodged out of the way of nobles, getting near one of them usually caused incidents that often lead to a servant being punished. No, the courtyard was not a nice place for servants to be, however, there were several that had to be there because of the jobs that had been put to them.

Heero had been in the courtyard just after the sun had risen, perched upon a granite statue of a gryphon, scrubbing years of grime and dirt away. Moss had actually started to make its home there, welcomed by the damp cracks and crooks of the statue. It was now late midday, the sun slowly making its way downward, and he was still at work. The pads of his fingers and his palm had been made soft by the water and slowly the skin was peeling away, while his knuckles, knees, and the backs of his hands bled from scrapes he had received from the rock.

The queen had set him at a task and he had to finish it.

Unlike other servants, the nobles paid him little attention, except for a select few that threw rocks at him, called him quite a selection of vulgar names, though barely any were creative enough to take notice of. Perhaps those nobles that did not bother him were pitying him. It was quite possible. He had been titled a Queen's Pet by many of the other servants, it was likely the nobles had heard of it and left him alone because they knew what his fate would soon be.

At times the queen took notice of certain people for a peculiar reason or no reason at all. Anybody could be picked--be it noble, peasant, or servant--and it was those who caught her eye that ultimately died. In her kingdom every person was as apt to die as the next, but those that were dubbed Queen's Pet by others were certain to die shortly--they never lasted longer than a month. Queen Mariemaia would give them tasks to accomplish within a certain time period and if they did not complete it, they would die. Eventually, she would give them something that was impossible to do, so it was never a happy ending for a Queen's Pet.

"Heero," a soft voice made him turn his head, "come down and eat. You've been up there forever."

Relena. Ever since they had met several years ago, she had taken it upon herself to be something approximate to a sister to him. At times she acted younger than him, at others older. He vaguely remembered having an older sister, someone who chided him for the smallest things and looked after him. She belonged with the ghost memories of his mother and father when he had lived on a small farm. It had only been a few years since then, yet it was better left forgotten.

He raised an eyebrow at the slender girl outfitted in a rough cotton dress, carrying a small pitcher in one hand and a bowl filled with bread and cheese in the other. He had to finish his job or else . . . "Relena, I-"

Relena cocked her head to the side, a small smile gracing her face. She was worried about his status as Queen's Pet, but she was trying to hide it from him, perhaps wanting to believe that if it wasn't true, it really wouldn't be true. It was interesting how people's minds worked at times. "I know you have to finish, Heero, still you have to eat something, too. You've been here all day without stopping at all." She hesitated, "Please? For me?"

He sat upon the shoulder of the gryphon statue, trying to exact a glare at her. She was unaffected. Damn her. She was his only weakness. The only thing that affected him.

Heero tore his gaze away from her, staring up into the blue sky. His thin shirt had long ago stuck itself to his chest and back, his own sweat drenching the cloth. His mouth was dry and he /hadn't/ eaten since sunrise. He couldn't very well allow his energy to become depleted just because he wasn't eating. 

That was why he was going to stop to eat and drink something. Not because she looked up at him with big, crystal blue eyes asking him to eat. Definitely not because of that.

He climbed down from his perch, dropping the scrubbing brush he held in his hands into a bucket filled with water.

Her blue eyes twinkled, "Here you go." She shoved the bowl and pitcher into each of his hands, then gently pushed on one of his shoulder until he sat down on the ground. She plopped down next to him as he took a drink from the pitcher.

"It's beautiful out today, isn't it?" Relena twirled a lock of her hair around her finger. "You can't really tell inside the kitchen."

Heero, in the midst of chewing through a bite of bread, scrambled to his feet as he heard the trotting hooves of horses come into the courtyard. Relena was quick to follow his example. He swallowed the bread, intent on the occurrence that was taking place. Guards rode in and behind four of them rode passengers. It wasn't odd for the queen's guards to come and go; they had set patrol routes to attend to. What was odd were the passengers.

The guards never allowed anyone to ride with them. Prisoners were typically brought in behind the horses, sometimes dragged. And they didn't come in quite as a varied lot as this.

The first boy who came down off the horse was normal enough, except for his strange hairstyle. That one's green eyes scanned the area warily. The next boy was a blond, coloring that was rarely seen in Triel. His clothes were of foreign design and cloth as well. Number three was another boy who was just as foreign as the last one, with black hair and copper skin. He only knew of one person with that same coloring..

The last boy was dressed all in black and at first glance that was the only thing really noticeable about him. Then he caught sight of the long chestnut braid with black feathers hanging off of it. The boy it belonged to was staring at the ground, his fingers tapping along his thighs, and his mouth moving giving indication that he was muttering.

The boy in black finally raised his head, glancing quickly about him. His eyes ran over Heero and Relena, along with everyone else in the courtyard, before he relaxed slightly, stepping in the direction where his three companions were grouped together.

Then he looked up in Heero's direction again with violet eyes. Violet eyes. Heero had never seen eyes like that before. Never. And they held him like a fly caught in a spider's web, he was unable to escape from their gaze.

They were so . . . entrancing.

The slightly cross look on the braided boy's face seemed to melt away and his eyes lit up. He looked as if he was about to take a step towards Heero, that pause in movement gave him away. It could have been what gave him away to the copper boy, who grabbed a hold of the braided boy's arm, looked in the direction that he had been about to move in, and frowned at Heero.

The braided boy still held his gaze with those violet eyes.

"Heero?" Relena's soft query pulled him out of his trance-like state. He jerked away from those entrancing eyes.

"Yes?"

She softly touched him on the shoulder, "Stay away from them," concerned cornflower blues eyes were wide, "Whatever reason they're here for, it can't be good."

Did she think he was a fool? No, she just tended to worry too much. "I know." He sat back down to swiftly finish his meal before he continued work on the statue.

"Just making sure. I don't want to lose you sooner than I have to." He knew what she meant. He didn't have much time left anyways, but she didn't want to see his life end without living that much less time. Relena was like that. She shook her head, sending wheat-blond strands of hair whisking around her face. "I'll be back in a couple of minutes. There are some things I have to do that can't wait."

He watched her walk away, steps quick and sure. She was right. Those strangers were here for something that could not be at all good, whether they knew it or not. He should just ignore them.  


As he finished his bread and water all he could think of was violet eyes.

*****

"The princes have arrived, Your Majesty. They are waiting for you in the Great Hall." 

Mariemaia raised her head, turning her attention from the vase of white roses to one of her attendants, who had curtsied so low her head nearly touched the ground. "Are they?" Her red painted lips curved upward into a smile. "They can wait for a moment longer." 

Her fingertip caressed the edge of a rose petal, its velvet softness pleasing. "My father loved roses. Loved them like he loved my mother and that wench that is my step-mother. Loved them like he did not love me." She knew her attendant was bewildered and frightened out of her wits behind her. Let her be. "He sent me away to my grandfather because he couldn't stand having me around." A dark chuckle escaped from her throat. "I wonder if he would have done that if he realized it was to be his downfall. My poor father . . . he was such a fool."

She became deathly quiet before tossing back her fire-red hair and turning around in a swish of dark yellow silk. "Go make sure the cooks prepare something decent tonight for dinner. We have guests."

Her attendant curtsied even lower, then scurried off to her duties, most likely grateful to escape from her presence. Mariemaia snorted softly to herself. She plucked a rose from the vase, making sure none of its sharp thorns cut into her skin, then swept out into the Great Hall.

Four boys nearly jumped in startlement at her appearance. All watched her with wary eyes. No surprise there. She immediately picked out the green-eyed and blond boy as the princes of Barli and Reva, her /spies/ had shown her who they were. She put the other two to the back of her mind, they were of no concern right now since her shields had no reaction to them. She needn't worry about them at the moment.

She reached out a hand in a welcoming gesture, smiling graciously, "I am so glad that you decided to accompany my guards here."

"Not like we had much choice . . ." she heard the boy with braided hair mumble. She ignored him.

The blond bowed slightly, "It was our pleasure, Your Majesty. It is not often that I get to visit the court of another country, especially one so different than my own." 

"Prince Quatre of Reva, am I right?" He nodded. "I suppose it is different from your own kingdom, the climate and our ways of running it."

"Yes, indeed it is." His blue-green eyes gazed at her in curiosity. Was he trying to figure her out? He wasn't going to have much luck.

She cocked her head in the direction of the other prince, "If he is Prince Quatre, you must be Prince Trowa. It is nice to have a royal visitor from a neighboring country for a change. We get so few."

"I wonder-" the boy with copper skin elbowed the braided boy before he could finish the sentence.

She raised an eyebrow, "May I ask who your companions are?"

Prince Trowa bowed his head slightly, "Indeed you may." He waved a hand in the direction of the braided boy, "Duo is my servant. He is uncouth, I know, but he makes up for it in other ways." He looked at her with cool, green eyes, his face a stone mask.

Mariemaia tapped the rose against her lip, looking at the young man dressed in black with considering eyes. His body had promise underneath all that cloth and his face was not unpleasant to look at, especially with those unusual eyes. And his hair . . . long and chestnut-colored with those black feathers, they gave him a sort of appeal. "Ah, yes, I see." She grinned.

"I take it the other boy is your servant, Prince Quatre, perhaps more?" she asked, eyeing the copper-skinned boy up and down, while moving closer to the blond prince.

Quatre quirked his lips upwards, "He is my servant and, also, a bodyguard from me. He's from a far-off land that I can never quite pronounce the name of. Not that it matters."

That would explain his presence, she supposed. "Well, you will have no need for a bodyguard here. You are quite safe as long as you're under my protection." She drew the rose down her cheek, watching Quatre's eyes follow it with fascination. Hmm . . . "Do you have roses in your country?"

He blinked at her in surprise, "No. I've seen them from afar at markets and in my travels, but I've never had time to actually see them up close."

"That's a shame. They're beautiful flowers." She held the rose out to him, "Here take it. I have many more where it came from."

He reached out a careful hand, those turquoise eyes never leaving her face. His fingers were wrapping around it when she let go and he automatically grasped it, so it wouldn't fall to the floor. He cried out, his companions lurching forward to help him, his hand relinquishing its grasp on the rose and it continued its descent downwards. He stumbled back a step or two, bumping into Trowa, who placed two hands upon his shoulders and glared daggers at her. Quatre was staring at his hand, biting his lip, as he watched red blood swell up from several cuts in his skin.

She raised her hands to her mouth, pretending to be horrified and rushed forward, ignoring the two servants who had taken defensive stances at the sides of the princes. "Oh, I am so sorry! I should have warned you about the thorns!" She pulled a white handkerchief out from a pocket hidden in her skirt, grasped his hand, and dabbed at the blood with the piece of white cloth, murmuring numerous apologies underneath her breath.

Prince Quatre pulled his hand away gently, "It's all right." A soft smile, "I didn't cut it that badly."

She widened her crystal blue eyes, holding the bloody handkerchief near her breast, "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

She glanced at his companions. Duo, his shoulders hunched, glowering at her with violet eyes, Wufei, his body outwardly relaxed, but she knew he was ready to attack her in an instant, and Prince Trowa, green eyes never leaving her face, never showing anything of what he was feeling.

Mariemaia hesitated, "I'm sure you've all had a long journey." She clicked the fingers of her free hand. "I have rooms ready for yourselves, Prince Trowa and Prince Quatre." She glanced at Prince Quatre, "Someone will come to treat your hand while you're there and I'll have some of my people make room for your attendants in the Servants' Hall."

Both princes looked as if they were about to protest about something, but she was already directing her servants around, all the while clutching the piece of white material soaked with some of Quatre's blood in her hands.

*****

Queen Mariemaia had placed Quatre in a series of rooms. There was the sitting room, the breakfast room, and the bedroom. He had protested when he had seen her at dinner--after having his hand tended to and bathing--but she had said that it befitted royalty to have such rooms. Trowa had gotten the same treatment in placement as he had.

Duo and Wufei had not. But that was to be expected, since she thought they were servants. Something both of them had made clear that they were not happy about when they had a second alone with Trowa and Quatre. And a second was all they had together before they had been swept apart by the queen.

Now that dinner was over, Quatre sat in his silk pajamas, curled up on one of the chairs in the sitting room, yawning. It had been a long day, and no matter how dangerous the queen was, it was about time he went to bed.

The door opened to his room and his eyes darted to the figure that appeared there. He let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, Trowa, it's just you."

Trowa nodded, "Did you know she was guards at the end of each hall?"

"Yes. She also has several outside my balcony." He moved his legs out from underneath himself, stretching them, then standing up. "She doesn't want us leaving our rooms."

"I know." Trowa took several more steps in, his mouth a straight, grim line. "I wonder if she's treating Duo and Wufei the same way."

Quatre shook his head, "I doubt it. They're in the Servants' Hall, remember? It would be hard to keep a tabs on who comes and goes. I think she deemed them of no importance as soon as she saw them, especially given your whole 'He is uncouth, I know, but he makes up for it in other ways' remark." He smirked, "I never knew that you and Duo were together like /that/."

Trowa glowered at him, "You are a brat. You know I was lying."

"Were you?" he blinked innocently at Trowa's serious face before shaking his head. "You are way too serious, Trowa."

"Why shouldn't I be? We're in this castle, aren't we?" His hand rubbed the back of his neck, "She probably knows what we think of her, but did you see the way she acted? Like she was completely innocent and there was nothing wrong here."

Quatre shrugged, "I don't know what to think of her. I've heard about the things she's done and I've seen some of them, yet, there's something about her that I just don't get." He frowned, "I'm probably just trying to see some sense of decency in her, I guess." He looked into Trowa's eyes, "Why did you come in here?"

The sudden change in subject threw Trowa off kilter for a second or two. "I-I wanted to check on your hand."

"It's fine. See!" He held up his hand, the cuts barely visible having already started the healing process. Trowa stepped closer, studying it to make sure. Quatre rolled his eyes, "I can take care of myself, you know. Can you?"

Green eyes grew large as they started down at Quatre's face and somewhat of a blank look crossed Trowa's face. Then, instead of the sharp retort he was expecting came the question, "Can I take care of you?"

Unsure if Trowa was joking or not, Quatre took a moment to figure it out . . .and study Trowa's face with its sharp and handsome features. "No. Can you take care of yourself?"

Trowa smiled softly, "I know that. I was asking if I can take care of you."

"Don't even try flirting with me, Trowa of Barli." Quatre yawned--disguising the fact that he was feeling awfully flattered--and stretched his arms above his head, "I'm too tired to notice."

"Oh," Trowa started backing away, his head lowered, the smile from his face gone, "I'll go back to my room, then, since you'll be wanting to go to bed."

Quatre reached forward with a hand. "No, wait a second!" He hadn't meant to make Trowa feel bad, which seemed to be what he had done. Trowa looked up, questionly. "I was wondering if you could stay the night with me . . . again? If I have another nightmare I don't want to wake up alone." 

Those green eyes brightened and that soft smile returned. "I'll stay."

"Thank you, Trowa."


End file.
